A New Mystery For Catherine
by hippogriff-tamer
Summary: Upon hearing a noise outside her bedroom at night, Catherine investigates...


**A/N** _Hi, this is my first Northanger Abbey story which I thought of recently while I was re reading the novel. I would like to thank Loki's Only Love for looking it over for me...I hope that you like it..._

 _P.S I don't own any of the recognizable characters._

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Catherine Tilney, nee Morland, awoke at the creaking sound coming from outside her bedroom. At first she thought that it might've been a servant walking around but hearing the clock out in the hall strike twelve she didn't think that was the case since it was the middle of the night. She sat up, careful not to disturb her husband, Henry, and grabbed her dressing gown on the way out the door. Catherine moved to the stairs leading to the first floor upon hearing the noise again since it sounded like it was coming from that direction. A lone shadow appeared near the top of the stairs. Its sudden appearance had Catherine jumping back in fright. It looked like a giant mangled hand reaching out towards her. She wanted to reach out and see if she could touch it but it could have easily grabbed her and taken her to a dungeon or cave. What an adventure that would be she thought. A moment after that thought came to her a thump on the window caught her attention and she saw that the shadow was only a branch blowing against the window. Shaking her head at thinking that it was a real hand and chiding herself at even thinking being captured was an adventure, she turned and saw the silhouette of a man. Catherine thought about screaming and opened her mouth to do just that when she was pulled against a tall body and a warm hand covered it.

"Quiet…. it's just me," her husband whispered as he removed his hand.

"Henry?"

"Yes. Unless you were expecting someone else."

Catherine turned in his arms so she was facing him. "Well, Thomas lives downstairs."

"He's a servant and would hardly be up here at this time of night," Henry told her calmly encircling her with his arms. "What are you doing walking around anyway?"

"I heard the stairs creaking," she answered him just as calmly glad that her heart had slowed back to its normal pace.

He raised an eyebrow. "And you decided to come out here alone and see what was causing that?"

She nodded.

"What would have happened had someone been out here and come after you?" he asked, clearing not happy.

"Screamed for help?"

"That certainly would have woken the entire house but wouldn't guarantee that we'd get to you in time," he reasoned, his voice quivering a bit at that frightening thought. He wrapped his arms around her tighter.

Catherine, sensing his discomfort, stroked her hands up and down his back in a comforting gesture. "Thomas or Betsy could have hit the intruder with a broom or pan knocking him unconscious and allowing me to escape. Then I'd get you and have Thomas watch over the intruder while we went and got the constable."

Henry looked into her eyes. "You are absolutely confident that nothing untoward would happen in this scenario."

"Why shouldn't I? No one in this house wants to see me harmed. Least of all you."

She had a point. In the months that they had been married his staff had grown to adore their new mistress. With her sweet nature and wild imagination, she had easily charmed everyone just as easily as she had charmed him. He conceded her point but added, "No one, myself included, would want you to be put in harm's way either by accident or design."

"I know," Catherine stated. "I won't purposely go looking for harm. I promise."

Henry kissed the top of her head. "Good. Now let's go back to bed."

She yawned covering her mouth with her hand. "That sounds like a good idea."

He led her back to their bedroom and watched her slip out of her dressing gown and lay down under the quilt before joining her. She kissed him before settling her head in the crook of his shoulder.

The next night Catherine was lying awake in bed next to Henry when she heard another creak then a door open. She glanced at her husband to see if he heard the noises but he was snoring softly. She started to get up to check things out but then she remembered that she promised Henry not to go looking for harm. She knew that she should probably wake him and ask him to come with her but her curiosity was starting to get the better of her especially when she heard the door again. Catherine slowly got up and put her dressing gown on. She was almost to the door when Henry asked, "What are you doing?"

Catherine turned around to see her husband propped up on his elbow looking at her. "I was just going downstairs to get a drink of water."

"Or you could be going to see who opened or closed the door," he opined. She knew saying otherwise wouldn't get her anywhere since her husband knew her so well and she told him so.

"Did you so easily forget what you said last night?" He inquired.

"No, but I thought I could take a small peek and come back before anything happened."

"Catherine." Henry reprimanded lightly.

She sighed. "Are you not curious about what's happened or who might be out there?"

"It's probably nothing."

"I can't just go back to sleep. I'd imagine all types of scenarios."

He knew that she was right. Her imagination was one of the reasons why he loved her but it did tend to over exaggerate things leading to the wrong idea. "If you insist on going I'm going with you," he stated sitting up. He took a pair of breeches and a shirt from a nearby chair and pulled them on. Henry then lit the candle which sat next to their bed and took Catherine's hand, leading her out into the hallway. The light from the candle cast shadows on the walls as they glanced around. Nothing seemed out of place and the doors were all closed except for their bedroom door which they had left ajar.

"See, nothing," Henry told her. He gently pulled her hand ready to head back to bed but Catherine didn't budge. "We should check the attic door," she said, starting toward the stairs leading to the attic. He followed her since he was holding the candle still. They managed to get to the stairs without incident and Catherine started up them.

"Wait," Henry said putting his hand on her arm. "I think that I should go up first." She looked at him seeing the logic at him going first. After all, he had the only light source they had and if someone did attack him she could come to the rescue. Be the heroine. So, she stepped down and allowed him to pass her. She followed and when they reached the top of the stairs they saw that the door was open.

"I swear this was closed earlier," Henry stated confused. He peered into the room moving the candle from side to side.

"Is there anyone in there?" Catherine asked curiously.

"No," he answered. He closed the door and moved to head back. She wanted to argue and go into the attic and look around herself but he had hold of her arm as if he knew that she would do just that if he didn't have hold of her. She knew that it was probably useless to argue with him so she just followed him.

The next morning Catherine finished breaking her fast before Henry and told him that she wanted to see the cook before they set out for the day. He nodded and she headed towards the kitchen. She did speak to the cook about the evening meal but instead of returning to her husband, she took the back stairs and headed to the attic.

"Ma'am, is there anything I can help you with?" a voice asked making me stop and jump. She looked around to see Thomas standing a few feet away.

"No thank you Thomas. What are you doing up here?"

"When I was outside this morning I saw that the window was open on the top floor so I went and closed it."

"Thank you. Do you know who opened it by chance?"

"No ma'am."

"Missus Tilney," a younger, feminine voice said as a young woman with auburn hair came out from the room across from her bedroom.

"Yes, Jane," I said addressing her.

"I opened it yesterday and forgot to close it. I went up there because Minnie ran up there and hid from Mrs. Watts and when I went up there to find her it smelled musty so I opened the window. I meant to go back later and close it but I never made it."

"And do you remember if you closed the door when you left?"

"Um I don't recall," Jane answered hesitantly.

"It's all right Jane," Catherine told her "you may go."

After bidding Thomas good day Catherine went back downstairs to the parlor where Henry was waiting. "Did you and Mrs. Watts have a good talk?" He asked suspiciously like he knew she was up to something.

"Yes, but then I had to go upstairs."

He smiled. " I know. I heard you."

She could have been surprised at that but she wasn't. After all, it was the ability to hear stairs creak that started this whole investigation. "We could fix all the creaky stairs," she suggested.

Henry's smile grew at his wife's suggestion, which, while logical, wasn't something she was seriously considering. She loved mysteries and hearing sounds like creaky stairs played right into that. "That would certainly prevent something like this from happening again."

"It would prevent us from hearing anything but not necessarily something similar happening," Catherine countered

He shook his head. "Like you trying to sneak off without my knowing?"

"Would that actually happen?"

"Probably not," he answered. "So are you going to tell me why you went upstairs?"

"Yes, and you'll never guess what happened," she told him as she relayed her conversations with Thomas and Jane to him.

"So the mystery is resolved then?"

She nodded. "For now."

He raised his eyebrow. "You expect there to be more?"

"Every day is full of mysteries waiting to be found," Catherine said in response.

Henry pulled her close and kissed her lips. "With you there is."


End file.
